Washington D.C., October 2023 — In a significant move reflecting the intensifying global interest in lunar exploration, the White House has mandated NASA to develop a unified time standard for the moon and other celestial bodies. The directive aims to set international norms in space as nations and private companies engage in a new era of lunar activities.
According to a memo obtained by Reuters, the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Arati Prabhakar, instructed NASA to collaborate with other U.S. government agencies to devise a plan for establishing a Coordinated Lunar Time (CLT) by the end of 2026.
Kevin Coggins, NASA’s space communications and navigation chief, highlighted the challenges posed by the moon’s differing gravitational force and other factors that affect how time unfolds relative to Earth. “The same clock that we have on Earth would move at a different rate on the moon,” Coggins explained, emphasizing the need for extreme precision in time-keeping for lunar spacecraft and satellites.
The OSTP memo noted that an Earth-based clock would appear to lose, on average, 58.7 microseconds per Earth day to someone on the moon, including other periodic variations that could further drift lunar time from Earth time. Without a unified lunar time standard, ensuring secure data transfers and synchronized communications between Earth, lunar satellites, bases, and astronauts would be challenging.
“Imagine if the world wasn’t syncing their clocks to the same time—how disruptive that might be and how challenging everyday things become,” an OSTP official remarked. The development of lunar atomic clocks may be necessary to maintain this synchronization.
As NASA’s Artemis program plans to send astronaut missions to the moon in the coming years and establish a scientific lunar base, the importance of a standardized lunar time becomes more pronounced. “Discrepancies in time could lead to errors in mapping and locating positions on or orbiting the moon,” the OSTP official added.
The establishment of a lunar time standard is also crucial for the expanding commercial activities on the moon. A unified time system would be essential for coordinating operations, ensuring the reliability of transactions, and managing the logistics of lunar commerce.
With dozens of companies, spacecraft, and countries involved in lunar exploration efforts, the United States’ initiative to set international norms could shape the future of space exploration and cooperation. The proposed Coordinated Lunar Time aims to facilitate collaboration and ensure that humanity’s return to the moon is both orderly and efficient.
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White House directs NASA to create time standard for the moon
cgtn.com
